This book explores the histories of almost forgotten episodes from the history of the settlement of Australia. They represent a series of case studies of what can be termed the open frontier, where Europeans were obliged to deal with Indigenous Australians on more equal terms than in the time after the frontier closed.

First there is the extraordinary story of a group of shipwrecked British and Bengali sailors who walked from Ninety Mile Beach in Victoria to Sydney in 1797.

The only reason that even three of the original 17 sailors made it to Sydney was because of the assistance they received from successive Aboriginal groups. This is an amazing tale of endurance – the 700-kilometre trip took over two months – but it also provides insight into the complex dynamic that made the British Empire a success. The wrecked Sydney Cove was a private vessel, officered by Highland Scots and English, commissioned by Scottish traders out of Calcutta, and crewed by Bengali lascars. Its cargo was primarily rum, and after the shipwreck the crew worked tirelessly to salvage the cargo, which ultimately was sold in Sydney to the colonial government for a handsome profit.

The next chapter deals with the abortive colonisation of Port Essington (near Darwin) between 1838 and 1849. This was an area that had long had contact with Macassan traders, and its Indigenous population was therefore uniquely well placed to deal with outsiders. Relations between the small garrison and the locals were cordial and characterised by exchange and cooperation. Ultimately the settlement failed due to malaria and cyclone but as the garrison sailed away they performed a corroboree on board the ship Menander.

The second half of the book deals with more familiar narratives of conflict and dispossession – a police expedition in the Pilbara in the 1860s that resulted in the shooting of numerous Yaburrara men and which is known as the Flying Foam massacre, and Cook’s confrontation with Guugu Yimithirr people at Cooktown and that area’s particularly violent settlement in the 1870s.

From the Edge offers new insights into the complexity of the Australian settlement experience and provides glimpses of an alternative past that has largely been forgotten.

Reviewed by Grant Hansen